The present invention relates to meat products of the fat free variety and to a process for producing same on a production scale basis, and more particularly to fat free meat products having a fat percent by weight equal to or less than that allowed by controlling governmental agencies for meat products permitted to be labeled as fat free. A typical fat free fat percentage is less than about one percent by weight. For example, the United States Nutritional Labelling and Education Act (NLEA) regulations require that for a non-entree meat to be labelled as "fat free", it must have less than 0.5 gram of fat per serving and reference amount, which is 55 grams for a sliced meat. This translates to a definition of fat free being equal to or less than 0.91 percent by weight of fat in a non-entree meat product.
Awareness of fat intake has lead consumers to value highly those food sources which are relatively low in fat or have virtually no fat content. Traditionally, many meat products have been perceived by certain groups as being products that are relatively high in fat content. Various techniques have made available meat products having fat percentages of 5% or less, such as at the 1% to 4% by weight level of fat in the meat product. Examples are turkey breast products which can achieve fat levels at the lower values of these ranges.
Consumer perception has developed along these lines to the extent that there is a desire to have even these relatively low fat percentages reduced further, ideally to arrive at a fat free condition or a nominally fat free condition. For example, current guidelines which are followed by the USDA permit packaged meat products to be labeled as "fat free" provided the amount of fat in the packaged sliced meat or sausage product is less than 0.5 gram of fat per 55 grams, which is less than 0.91 percent by weight of the total packaged meat product. Such a product is thus properly designated as "free" of fat, and nutritional labeling properly specifies a zero ("0") as the reported fat content. Accordingly, there is an important need for meat products having a fat content which meets these zero or nominal zero levels.
In the past, certain fat free meat products, that is those meeting the governmental guidelines specified above, have been commercialized on a production scale basis. Typically, these are fat free turkey and chicken whole muscle (often breast) products. Other fat free products have been formulated from traditionally higher fat content sources. Such products typically are of the comminuted or ground variety. Examples include fat free frankfurters, hot dogs or wieners and other sausage type products such as bologna and other luncheon meat which is not of the so-called whole-muscle type, but is formed from batters, grinds or emulsions. The reformulation of such products in order to reduce fat levels can be aided by the inclusion of non-meat components that generally dilute the fat which is present in the meat that is included within the batter, grind or emulsion from which the sausage product is formed. It is often the case that these fat free products, when subjected to taste tests, score significantly lower than corresponding products which are not of the fat free variety. Therefore, it would be desirable and extremely important to be able to produce fat free meat products from higher fat meat sources which are not of the ground emulsified type and which, when subjected to taste testing, score at a level that is more generally in agreement with taste test scores for corresponding products that are not fat free or that include traditional levels of fat.
Fat free meat products which are made from pork or ham and the like that are currently available on a production line scale often do not exhibit texture characteristics of corresponding meat products which are not within the fat free category. Such texture differences, especially when combined with taste differences, can provide consumers with a perception that these fat free products do not elicit the eating experience which has been viewed positively in connection with the taste and texture of higher fat or traditionally high fat corresponding products. Examples of positively perceived texture attributes are the appearance and mouth feel of natural whole muscle meat cuts or slices which have no ground or emulsified components. These attributes are typically not attainable by a comminuted or ground meat product, even when sliced, especially when compared with a slice directly made from a natural whole muscle piece of meat. Thus, it would be desirable to have a production scale, manufactured-type of meat product made from sources such as pork or ham which are not naturally lean enough to meet the fat free criteria, especially while exhibiting natural whole muscle characteristics and texture attributes that equal or approximate those associated with corresponding traditionally prepared whole muscle meats, such as sliced smoked cooked ham.
A long-recognized difficulty in reducing the fat content of traditional meat cuts that are provided in natural muscle form is the variation in fat content from animal to animal. Attempts to address this difficulty have included modification in and tight control of the diets of the animals, as well as selective breeding practices and other approaches founded in the biological or chemical sciences which are directed toward modification of the animals themselves in order to reduce fat formation within the animals prior to slaughter. This approach has met with some success, although the fat reduction levels typically do not allow for natural muscle or traditionally cut whole muscle products which satisfy fat free criteria. For example, traditional natural meat cuts from such animals still have fat contents in excess of 1%, usually multiples of these levels.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved meat product that has a fat content which is at or below regulatory definition(s) of fat free meat products which are typically below one weight percent fat based on the total weight of the meat product, the exemplary USDA adopted level being less than 0.5 gram of fat per serving, which is the total weight of whole units closest to 55 grams and per reference amount for sliced non-entree meat products.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved fat free ham which is cured, shaped, and (if desired) sliced in accordance with traditional practices and which has a nominal fat content of zero.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved process and fat free meat product which eliminates many of the fat sources found in traditional pork cuts, especially the leaner cuts of pork including those that are the traditional materials for ham, so as to result in the production of a meat supply that is in the vicinity of one weight percent fat or lower and which, when formulated into a finished meat product has a fat weight percent of below 1%, typically at or below 0.9 weight percent.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fat free ham and water product, chopped and formed, and an improved process for producing same which incorporates low fat core meat cuts together with finely textured reduced fat meat and a water composition.
Another object of the present invention is to separate meat whole muscle into muscle "core meat" cuts and "residual trim" cuts, the latter having a significantly higher fat level, and processing the residual trim cuts to remove gristle and connective tissue in order to thereby remove a substantial contributor to the fat content of the residual trim cuts for use in preparing fat free meat products.
Another object of the present invention is to utilize mechanical approaches for removing gristle and connective tissue from meat pieces in order to substantially reduce the fat content of the meat pieces.